Country parents fight to keep Year 7 exemption, arguing 11 'too young' for boarding school

Wheatbelt parents are making a last-ditch bid to keep their children at home for longer, arguing 11 is too young to send them to boarding school.

They are fighting a State Government decision to end an exemption which, for the past three years, has allowed regional students to stay in the primary system for Year 7.

Beacon farmer Andrew Dunne has been leading the charge.

"There's no evidence there's any benefit sending them away and I can tell you there's plenty of benefit for them staying here with their family," he said.

In Opposition, the State Education Minister Sue Ellery promised to review the exemption.

But a month ago she told Parliament she would not be extending it.

"I asked the Department of Education to provide me with advice on the proposal to extend the offer for special consideration," she said.

"I have now received that advice.

"The enrolment data confirms that the overwhelming majority of families in regional areas have adjusted to the change, with a decline in Year 7 students in primary settings from 85 in 2015 to only 22 in 2017, 10 of whom are enrolled in School of the Air."

This week Minister Ellery stood by her decision.

"All of the educational research indicates that they would get a much better secondary education if they were ... with their peers and ... in the learning environments in a secondary school setting," she said.

'I'm running three businesses just to try and pay for boarding school," he said.

"I was out spraying at 5 o'clock this morning, I ran back in to my ag supply business and sold a bit of stuff to someone and then this afternoon I'll be painting for my chemical transfer system business."